Protecting cultural heritage in war zones

Weiss, Thomas G.

doi:10.1080/01436597.2018.1535894

Cited by 32 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In the United States, heritage professionals work with the Department of Defence to support troops in protecting heritage during military operations; in the United Kingdom, a specialist Cultural Property Protection Unit has been created within the Armed Forces; and similar heritage protection programmes now exist in the militaries of many significant world powers (Foradori et al, 2018; Rush, 2010). On the global stage, some have called for the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ doctrine to be expanded from the protection of human life to significant heritage sites and cultural assets (Lenzerini, 2016; Weiss and Connelly, 2019) and for some form of ‘Cultural Peacekeeping’ force to be integrated into international operations (Foradori and Rosa, 2017). In 2016, UNESCO partnered with the Italian Government to create a specialized unit designed to protect cultural property in conflict, later nick-named the ‘Blue Helmets for Culture’ (UNESCO, 2016).…”

Section: Heritage Politics and Peacementioning

confidence: 99%

“…While such efforts are undoubtedly well-intentioned, they are underpinned by a problematic assumption: that the protection and reconstruction of heritage in times of conflict is a normative good that can help minimize security threats, re-establish social cohesion and foster peace. While the notion that heritage protection inherently fosters peace is shared by several state parties and multilateral institutions (Foradori et al, 2018), is embedded in various legal frameworks (Lixinski, 2019;Lostal, 2017) and is an intellectual orthodoxy in much scholarly writing (Rush, 2010;Weiss and Connelly, 2019), it has not been held up to empirical scrutiny. Among its most prominent advocates are key multilateral institutions concerned with the promotion of global peace, such as UNESCO.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Problematizing norms of heritage and peace: Militia mobilization and violence in Iraq

Isakhan¹,

Akbar²

2022

Cooperation and Conflict

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The destruction of heritage in conflict has emerged as a key challenge to global security and the prospects of peace. In response to the deliberate targeting of heritage sites by the Islamic State (IS) and other actors in recent years, the international community has launched a number of initiatives designed to protect and reconstruct key heritage sites in complex (post-)conflict contexts. However, this article demonstrates that such initiatives are often underpinned by the norm that the protection of heritage in conflict can serve to enhance the prospects of reconciliation, stability and peace. This article problematizes this norm by focussing on the case study of Shia responses to the targeting of their religious heritage sites by the IS in Iraq from mid-2014. It documents the ways that key Shia leaders instrumentalized the case of protecting heritage not to advance peace and security, but to create entirely new militias, to recruit thousands of Shia faithful, to mobilize them to fight against the IS, and to engage in violence and human rights abuses. This raises significant concerns about whether the promotion of heritage as a pathway to peace could inadvertently exacerbate conflict and lead to renewed waves of violence and heritage destruction.

show abstract

Section: Heritage Politics and Peacementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Problematizing norms of heritage and peace: Militia mobilization and violence in Iraq

Isakhan¹,

Akbar²

2022

Cooperation and Conflict

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…McKeague and Thomas (2016) analyze the evolution of historical environment inventories and their digitalization. Weiss and Connelly (2018) investigate legal framework, the responsibility of countries for the unlawful destruction of cultural heritage and looting of cultural property due to armed conflicts. The authors stress that their publications focus international attention on the deliberate destruction of the cultural heritage in Syria and Iraq, as well as war crimes related to the attacks on historical and cultural sites in Timbuktu, Mali.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

State policy in the sphere of protection of cultural heritage in Ukraine

Malysh

Shevchenko

Tkachuk-Miroshnychenko

2020

JCHMSD

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the efficacy of the state policy of Ukraine in the sphere of protection of tangible and intangible cultural heritage, measures of safeguarding cultural property in the event of armed conflict and to assess how and why the state funding of culture has changed.Design/methodology/approachThe proposal is to investigate this by discussing the national and international policy frameworks through case study by using quantitative and qualitative methods to disclose if state cultural policy initiatives promote public interest in cultural issues and how the political events in the country affect the distribution of the state funding of culture.FindingsUkrainian state cultural policy initiatives appear to be effective in protecting cultural heritage at both central and local levels despite redistribution in the state funding of this sphere. In cooperation with international agencies, Ukraine effectively promotes its intangible cultural heritage properties. Interest of the public in the state cultural policy issues has grown considerably. Problems exist with the protection of Ukrainian cultural sites located in war zones and disputed territories.Originality/valueThese findings demonstrate how the state policies aimed at protecting Ukrainian cultural heritage may be effectively implemented at different levels in cooperation with international agencies; how the political landscape in the country promotes the public interest in cultural policy issues. This case forms an example of steps aimed at protecting cultural properties on disputed territories in cooperation with intermediaries, such as UNESCO.

show abstract

Cultural Heritage—Competing Conceptions and Significance

Browne¹,

Raff²

2022

International Law of Underwater Cultural Heritage

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Protecting cultural heritage in war zones

Cited by 32 publications

References 16 publications

Problematizing norms of heritage and peace: Militia mobilization and violence in Iraq

Problematizing norms of heritage and peace: Militia mobilization and violence in Iraq

State policy in the sphere of protection of cultural heritage in Ukraine

Cultural Heritage—Competing Conceptions and Significance

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About